


Ride Your Body, Wear Your Skin

by diamondforger



Category: Kamen Rider Zero-One
Genre: Drug Use, Dubious Consent, Ghost Naki, Horror AU, Other, Paranormal Investigator Fuwa, Possession, Torture, tags and rating may change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-17
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:42:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26517646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/diamondforger/pseuds/diamondforger
Summary: A ghost hunter who's never seen a ghost meets a stranger looking for a ride.
Relationships: Fuwa Isamu & Naki
Comments: 12
Kudos: 14





	1. Chapter 1

Another town, another case solved. The “ghost” had been carbon monoxide induced hallucinations, again.

Fuwa supposed he should be relieved. Facing off against a real monster might be more than he’d be able to handle. Still, he was quickly growing exhausted of this life.

He’d been in town for two weeks, the longest he’d been in one spot for a long time. It was time to move on again. Move on to another town and another string of cases of hauntings caused by faulty wiring and drafty windows.

He packed his stuff away in the beat up van he’d “found” rusting on the side of road. It wouldn’t last to the end of the month, yet another thing to look for when he got to the next town.

News of his skill as a “paranormal investigator” was starting to spread, and he was finally getting a steady income. Maybe the next car he acquired could be purchased legally.

But that was a worry for another night. Tonight, he was going to the bar and going to enjoy himself. See this town off on a good note. 

There was a local pub right down the street from hotel. The locals were far too occupied with each other to approach him. It was a small enough town that he was an obvious outsider, and he was grateful that they opted to ignore rather than harass.

The drinks were cheap and burned his throat, but it was the calmest he’d felt in a while. The music and chatter reminded him of a time when he’d had friends. Before he’d been forced on the run.

Being a fly on a wall was nice, but didn’t last. He noticed a set of eyes focused on him.

He couldn’t quite meet the gaze of the person watching him intently from across the room. The lack of eye contact didn’t seem to deter them. As he looked away, they rose and walked over to him. As they settled in the chair next to him, Fuwa looked over nervously. They were dressed oddly, practically drowning in an oversized coat despite the heat of the summer. They had short hair that stopped just above sharp eyes that seemed to look straight through Fuwa as he took a sip of his drink.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen a new face around here,” they said. Their expression was stern and unmoving, but there was a warmth there that Fuwa hadn’t felt in a while. “What’s your name?”

“Fuwa,” he said, staring down at his drink, “I’m not looking for a hookup.”

“Neither am I,” they said, “My name’s Naki. I’m also not from here and it’s been a while since I’ve had the opportunity to talk to someone new. Humor me?”

He could do that It'd been a long time since he'd just chatted with someone. “How did you end up in a small town like this?“

“I got stuck here a while back when I was trying to get out of a bad situation,” Naki said, “Tell me your story and I’ll tell you mine.”

“Not the type for small talk, are you?” Fuwa let out a wry laugh, “It’s quite a tale. You probably won’t believe me.”

“Try me.”

Fuwa searched Naki's face for some hint of a joke. Their expression remained stiff and unhelpful as they leaned closer to Fuwa. “I have a pretty unbelievable story of my own, but you won’t get to hear it if you don’t go first.”

Fuwa looked around the bar again. The bartender was already eyeing him suspiciously. This wasn’t the place to be talking about his personal demon.

“It’s a bit loud here, mind if we talk outside?”

...

The night was oddly quiet as the walked along the street. The muggy summer heat led to most staying indoors and so their conversation was thankfully private.

“I’m a ghost hunter,” Fuwa said as they walked.

“I know,” Naki said, “I heard the others talking about you. They said you didn’t find any ghosts today.”

“I rarely do,” Fuwa leaned in a bit almost conspiratorially, “Actually, you wanna know a secret?”

“Yes.”

“I’ve never seen a real haunting during my whole time with this job. Not one. All easily explainable phenomenon.”

A small smile played on Naki’s lips. “Is that so? How did a skeptic end up in this profession?”

“I didn’t say I was a skeptic,” Fuwa fidgeted with his sleeve. It was wearing thin again. There was only so much he could do to patch it up, but he didn’t want to buy a whole new suit.

“So you don’t believe in ghosts, but you believe in something?”

“I’ve never encountered a ghost, but I have encountered... other things.”

“What?”Naki stopped in their tracks, head tilted as they stared Fuwa down.

Fuwa hadn’t told anyone in years. It seemed insane and the people he’d made the mistake of telling had all laughed. Most thought it was a ploy to make his ghost hunting seem more “legit.”

“I’ve got a demon following me,” he said slowly. He braced for laughter, but there was none.

“That’s unfortunate. Job gone wrong?” There was no surprise in Naki's voice, no judgement. If anything, they sounded sympathetic. 

“I guess you could say that. It was before this. I was bouncing around security jobs when I stumbled across a strange job opening. High paying, legitimate company, but very vague about the actual work."

"What company?"

Fuwa paused for a moment. He really didn't want to say. The story sounded crazy enough without naming his actual employer. There was no way Naki wouldn't immediately recognize the name. 

"It was a tech company," he said vaguely before jumping back into the story. He'd been holding back for so long, he hadn't even realized how much he needed to say what had happened. To hear his own voice saying the words. 

"We weren't guarding anything, that was strange. But they outfitted us with all this experimental tech and had us running test missions. It was all supposed to augment our senses and let us see beyond human capability. They called it 'seeing beyond the veil' or some crap... But it worked. The whole world was a thousand times more vivid through those lenses."

Fuwa paused. The night was silent as he took a deep breath. Something felt off about the quiet, but before he could think any further on it, Naki interrupted his thoughts. "What went wrong?"

"People went mad," Fuwa said, "One by one, they'd start to see things and hear things that no one else could. They'd get anxious and paranoid and one by one they snapped."

"Snapped how?"

"Depends." Memories flashed in Fuwa's head, but he pushed them back. Dwelling too heavily on the specifics would send him on a downward spiral and he didn't need that right now. "The smart ones quit. Some became convinced the things they were seeing were all lies and tried to smash the equipment. Some became too accustomed to their new senses and got violent when people tried to remove their gear. Some just stopped showing up to work. I wanted to believe they all quit too, but by that point I was too scared to check up on them."

"What happened to you?"

"I suppose I'm one of the one that just stopped showing up." The street light above them flickered and Fuwa spun around, eyes searching the darkest corners of the street. It couldn't be. Of all times, why did it have to be now?

"Relax," Naki said, "There's a lot of old, shoddy wiring in this town. I want to hear why you left."

"I saw it," Fuwa couldn't make himself relax. He had been in town for a bit, it wouldn't be unreasonable to assume it had caught up with him. "At first it was just a weird distortion in the corner of my vision when I was running drills. Then I started hearing weird static. It kept getting worse and I thought my equipment was just breaking down. One day the static got so loud I took everything off mid session... but it didn't go away. It only got louder and the weird distortion in my vision, well, it wasn't distorted anymore."

"What did it look like?" Naki was suddenly standing very close to Fuwa. A burst of cold wind swept down the street making Naki's coat billow at they watched him closely. 

It couldn't be a coincidence. The lack bugs chirping in the summer night, the flickering lights and now the cold. Fuwa looked around again, but this time he stopped. 

"It looked like that," he said. 

Naki turned to look, but Fuwa was already moving, grabbing Naki's arm as he sprinted away from the hooded figure standing in the middle of the dark street. 

"We have to go now."

The lights above them flickered and went dark as they ran. There was no way to outrun the monster on foot, Fuwa knew that. There were plenty of cars parked around even at night, he just needed to find the right one. 

He spotted a good target and dragged Naki towards it. As he approached the driver's side, he shrugged off his jacket, wrapping it around his fist. 

"What are you doing?" Naki's voice sounded distant and distorted as he drew his fist back. 

"No time to explain," he said as he smashed his fist through the window. It hurt. Not as badly as the first time he'd tried, but it wasn't pleasant. It was a necessary pain. A week of not being able to use his hand was a small price to pay for continuing to live. 

With the window out of the way he dove into the car, making quick work of hot wiring it. It was an old car, in pretty bad shape, but that's what made it a good target in the first place. Good cars were difficult to steal. 

"Get in," he called out to Naki as the engine roared to life. The whole street had gone dark and the car lights were flickering. The static was screaming in his head as Naki scrambled into the car. He could almost swear he heard laughter in the static. 

Fuwa wanted to reassure Naki, but there was no time. Explanations could come when they were safe. As soon as the passenger side door closed, he slammed on the gas, tires screeching as the car struggled to get to top speed.

Naki was oddly silent as they speed into the night. It was a relief, because the combination of complete darkness, unfamiliar roads, and the horrid noise that spread everywhere the creature went was making it difficult for Fuwa to drive. 

The drinks at the bar probably didn't help either. He really couldn't have a single relaxing night, could he?

As they pulled out of the town, the static slowly started to quiet and the lights in the car stopped flickering. That only made Fuwa speed up. He needed as much of a lead as possible on the beast. 

He needed to get off the winding country roads and onto a highway. Some place where he could get up to full speed without having to worry about sudden sharp turns or-

The car strayed off the side of the road and before Fuwa could correct himself, the front tire hit something. The next couple seconds were a blur as he tried to everything he could to stop the car from careening off the road and into the woods. It was too late. There was nothing he could do to pull away as they plowed directly into a tree. 

His body shot forward, crashing through the windshield as he realized he hadn't even bothered buckling the seat belt. 

The next thing he processed was Naki's calling his name. "Fuwa, Fuwa, you don't look so good."

Everything hurt as Fuwa forced his eyes to focus on the person above him. There was genuine concern in Naki's eyes and it brought tears to Fuwa's eyes. He may have been alone for the last chunk of his life, but at least one person cared about his death. 

But something was strange. Naki had been in the car too. But they didn't look any different then they had when they'd just be strolling down the street. 

"You're not hurt..." Fuwa said as his mouth filled with the taste of iron.

"Shh," Naki ran a calming hand through his hair, "Listen, we don't have much time."

"How are you not hurt?"

"Fuwa," Naki's face was fading and distorting as Fuwa struggled to sit up, "I need a little favor."

"What?"

"I need to posses you."

Fuwa started to laugh, but moving his stomach was painful enough to turn it into a wince.

There was a sigh from above him. "I was hoping to ease into this, but it seems we're out of time. I'm not... alive. You were the first to see me in months. To everyone else it seemed like you were talking to yourself all night because... well, I'm a ghost."

Fuwa looked up at Naki to see darkness spilling out from under their coat, surrounding him. This had to be some sort of nightmare. A twisted joke. 

"I've been looking for someone like you. Someone whose being hunted." Naki continued. 

"Why?" the word was barely audible, and Naki didn't acknowledge it. 

"You're not long for this world." The darkness curled around him feeling like cold fingers as they brushed against his skin. "He'll be here any second. There's no hope of escape for you, but if you let me in, I can go with you. I'll be able to find out where the creature takes it's prey. This may be my only chance."

Fuwa knew what they were saying was true. At least the part about him not surviving. His wounds weren't necessarily fatal, but he could hear the static growing to a near deafening pitch. 

Naki's voice wasn't effected by the static. It seemed to be coming from everywhere as they leaned over him. "I understand you have no reason to trust me, but I swear I'll do everything I can to save your body. Just let me in."

Fuwa nodded weakly as a wave of cold enveloped him. Naki sighed, head falling back as their body dissipated into the cloud of darkness. 

_Thank you._

The darkness surrounded Fuwa and for a moment he felt safe. It was unsettling to feel another presence entering his mind, but it pushed away the pain of the monster's terrible aura. 

In fact, all of the pain was getting pushed away as he was pushed out of control of his body. The less he could control his body, the less he could feel the pain of his wounds. That was nice at least. A painless death, even if it wasn't a quick one. 

There was a loud giggle and Fuwa's head turned to look for the source. He'd never stopped to look too closely at the creature following him before, but Naki didn't share his fear. 

It was tall, thin, and almost human. A quick glance might have lead one to believe it was just a tall man in a hood, but it wasn't that. It wasn't that at all. It was something not meant to be seen with human eyes. The tentacles around it floated in and out of his vision and its face twisted and morphed the more he looked at it. All he could say for sure was that the monster was smiling. 

"Found you. Now we're friends." The voice of the beast almost sounded human, but its movements were that of an animal as it pounced. 


	2. Chapter 2

The creature latched onto Fuwa and the world tore around him. The ground was no longer under him and he couldn't tell if he was falling or flying. Naki moved his eyes, but he couldn't understand what he was seeing. Focusing on the blur of color around him only made his head ache. 

They were moving. Fuwa didn't know how he knew, but he did. They were going somewhere. Somewhere Fuwa didn't want to go. He couldn't fight it, Naki had full control of his body. They were choosing to cling as tightly as they could to the beast. As they flew through the whirling chaos, he could feel the tension in Naki’s mind. Waiting. They were waiting for something. The right cue, but they weren’t sure what that cue would be. 

Before the cue came, the creature jerked backwards. The tentacles around them thrashed, and wrapped around Fuwa, only making the pain of his injuries worse. 

Whatever had happened, the creature wasn't in control anymore. They were being pulled, but how Fuwa couldn't explain. 

_No. No! This wasn’t part of the plan._

He felt like he was being pulled in a thousand different directions. It was overwhelming and excruciating. The creature was screaming as they fell. The whirling chaos started to fade into something Fuwa could process. 

Before he could put together what he was seeing, they hit the ground. The shock and pain of their landing was enough to make him lose his thin grasp on consciousness. 

The last thing he heard before giving into the darkness was a human voice cheering. 

"It worked! It worked! it finally worked!"

...

Fuwa woke in a warm bed. He felt... better. The pain wasn’t gone, but he no longer tasted blood and he was able to breath with little pain. Maybe a little more sleep and he’d be ready to get up. 

His eyes opened and his body shot into a sitting position, and he was painfully reminded that he wasn’t in control anymore. 

Naki had no interest in resting. They were looking around in a panic. 

“Where are we?” 

Fuwa wasn’t sure if the question was directed at him, but he didn’t get a chance to answer. 

“In between worlds.” 

They turned to see a young man sitting by their bed. He had light brown hair in severe need of a trim and was wearing some silly novelty sweatshirt that Naki didn’t bother to read. 

“What does that mean?” 

“I know this is all a shock to the system,” the man was holding a steaming mug. “Have some tea. It’ll help.“

“That doesn’t answer my question.” Naki accepted the mug, but didn’t drink. 

“We’ve been trying to catch that creature for years,” the man said with a grin, “we managed to finally capture it and save you in the process.”

Naki was annoyed, which felt a bit odd. Fuwa was more than grateful to be alive. This place was strange, but it was better than being eaten. 

“How did you capture it?” 

“We'll have plenty of time to explain that later. I’d rather spend tonight celebrating our success. Plus, Yua’s better at explaining the technical side.” 

Naki was even more annoyed by that answer, but Fuwa liked it. He was tired. He’d almost died and he just wanted a moment to rest. 

“Okay, one more question before the celebration,” Naki said stiffly, “Why didn’t it kill us? It was taking us somewhere. There must be a reason for that.”

“It was going to eat you,” the man answered without hesitation, “It eats people. We don’t know why it eats some where they stand and others it takes as a snack for later, but we have no reason to believe it has any motivation deeper than hunger.” 

Naki sighed. Their expression barely changed but Fuwa could feel a storm of emotions in their mind. Disappointment, anger, guilt, and then... relief. 

“I think it is time for a celebration then,” they finally said, “We’ve stopped it from killing anymore innocent people.” 

“That’s the spirit!” The man clapped Fuwa on the shoulder. “Now, time for some _spirits_.”

Fuwa was suddenly grateful for the fact he wasn’t in control of his body, because he would have doubled over in laughter. 

_You have a terrible sense of humor._

Naki didn't share his enjoyment of the joke. They forced a small smile with a halfhearted laugh.

“It’s not my best work, I’ll admit,” the man didn’t seem discouraged by the lack of response, “I’m still honing my a _rt-o_.” He grinned enthusiastically as his audience stared back blankly.

“Oh! I'm Aruto. It's a joke about my name... which I didn't tell you,” the man turned a very endearing shade of pink, “I... I guess I messed that one up.” Aruto scratched the back of his head, looking away. “Anyway! It's time to head over.”

"I'm Fuwa," Naki said. It felt weird to have someone else's voice using his name; it sounded unnatural in their mouth. But Fuwa could barely remember the last time something had felt natural. 

As Naki tried to stand, they winced. Fuwa’s leg still ached and wouldn't hold his weight. Aruto grabbed a crutch from nearby and handed it over.

“Your wounds will heal fast here,” he said, “but until then, feel free to lean on me.”

Fuwa’s face flushed as Naki took the crutch and held Aruto’s shoulder with their free hand. They were far more comfortable than he was with the casual contact. 

_Been that long since you’ve touched someone?_

Fuwa fumed in his brain, not wanting to respond as Naki was lead into a long winding corridor. 

_It’s okay. It’s been even longer for me._

Fuwa couldn’t ask how long before Aruto started talking.

“You should stick close. This place is a maze and there’s things you don’t want to see. Not on your first night anyways.”

Fuwa’s eyes wandered the dark hallways they passed. The hallways were lit with candles and everything from ceiling to floor was an inky black that didn't reflect the light. Every passageway that split off from the main route seemed to seemed to go on forever, disappearing into the darkness even though it shouldn’t be possible.

They passed multiple door of all kinds, some ancient with heavy metal bars holding them closed, some modern with no sign of a lock.

Aruto didn’t explain any of the doors or the passageways. He was far more interested in the subject of celebration.

“We really have been waiting for this for years. You were asleep for a while so everyone will probably already been pretty far gone. But you should introduce yourself to anyone you can, since you're going to be here forever.”

_What was that?_

Naki opened their mouth to repeat Fuwa’s question, but was interrupted.

“Yua’s gonna give a speech when you arrive. We’ve all been waiting for that. She’s been here longer than any of us and kept her sanity better than most.”

Aruto stopped right by a door twice as tall as the others. It was made thick heavy wood, but it swung open with ease as Aruto ushered them inside.

It had been nearly silent in the corridor before but now bright chaotic noise flooded Fuwa’s senses. He was being led into a large bar that felt ancient, but didn’t look all that different than the dive bars he frequented. The tables were made of real wood and the lighting was all candles, but there was a fair amount of technology alongside it. It was almost comforting to see a television playing some random sports game and a radio blaring a statics song that Fuwa couldn’t name but instantly recognized.

The tables were packed, but most of the people were clearly out of their minds on something much stronger than alcohol. Some were fast asleep, some in a daze and the ones that were aware were far too occupied with each other to notice Fuwa's entrance. 

“He’s awake,” Aruto yelled as he entered.

A woman in a sharp suit looked up from her drink with a curt nod. Her long hair covered most of her face, but Fuwa could swear there was something familiar about her. 

Instead of approaching them, the woman grabbed a glass and jumped up on the table in one swift movement.

“Raise a glass to the hero of the hour.”

There was a scattering of cheers and mumbling as people turned to Fuwa. Aruto pulled him forward to the bar and got him a drink as the woman continued speaking.

“I know you all are tired of hearing about my mission.” Her eyes were bleary, but her voice was steady a confident. “But as of today, We have succeeded. It was me that dragged the creature into our world, but in the end, I was able to drag it back out.” She brushed enough of the hair out of her face to take a large swig of her drink and recognition hit Fuwa like a freight train. 

_Yaiba!_

Naki tilted their head inquisitively, looking the woman up and down. _You know her?_

_Yaiba. She was my boss._ Fuwa explained. _Kinda. She was the head researcher for the glasses. She really is responsible for bringing the creature into the world._

_It would seem she quit her job._ Naki replied, taking a large glass of something that definitely wasn't beer from Aruto.

“The creature has gotten its teeth in all of us,” Yaiba continued hand running through the hair covering the right of her face. "Some literally, and some by proxy.”

Aruto made a noise as he poured himself a drink from a tap that wasn't connected to anything. 

“We've all been scarred, but we happy few, we didn’t let him eat us alive. We fought back. We fought back and we won.”

More cheers echoed around as Naki sipped the drink experimentally. It was surprisingly sweet, exactly the sort of thing Fuwa enjoyed. He couldn’t detect any alcohol, but he knew better than to rely on that.

_We should talk to people._ Fuwa said. _If Yaiba’s here, maybe some of my other coworkers are too._

_Can’t it wait until tomorrow?_ Naki took a much bigger gulp of the drink. _I don’t want to have to pretend to recognize people._

_Or you could just let me have my body back._

Naki sighed loudly. Aruto turned to give them a confused look but Naki just rubbed their eyes and yawned. “Long day. Bit tired.”

Yaiba was still talking, but Naki had lost interest. They were drinking more and more of the strange drink.

_Be careful. This is my body and I can’t handle too much alcohol._

_I haven’t had a drink in so long,_ Naki took another gulp, _Not even talking about booze. I have been able to eat or drink anything... Please, I just want to have a little fun._

_You don’t seem the type to enjoy that sort of thing._

Naki lowered the glass, frowning as Yaiba wrapped up her speech.

_I’ll have you know, I’m very fun._

Fuwa would have laughed, if he could. Naki pointedly ignored him in favor of focusing on Yaiba as the climbed down from the table.

She didn't looked physically any older than when Fuwa had known her, but the way she carried herself had shifted. Her confidence had been infuriating when he'd worked for her, all the more infuriating because said confidence was unquestionably warranted. She'd been the most brilliant mind in her field, and she knew it. 

But now she seemed tired and worn. There was a tension in his shoulders and a weight in her movement as she walked over to him. 

“I’ve heard you have many questions.” If Yaiba recognized him, she didn’t show it. That wasn’t particularly surprising. It had been years and Fuwa was one of hundreds of employees. “I’ll be more than happy to answer any of them, tomorrow of course. The library will also be a great help in understanding everything that's happened to you.”

The drink was hitting and hitting fast. Yaiba’s face blurred as Naki nodded. “Love libraries. Very helpful,” Naki said.

“It seems like the best thing for you right now is more sleep,” Yaiba’s smile was stern, but there was a fondness in it that Fuwa didn’t remember from when they’d worked together. Yaiba had never liked him as an employee. It would seem all it took to make her soften was delivering a horrible man eating monster directly into her hands.

“Ending the night so early?” Aruto pouted, arm slung around Fuwa’s shoulder. “We barely got here.”

“It’s your job to take care of our new guest,” Yaiba put her hands on her hips, glaring sternly at him. The effect was only slightly lessened by the way she struggled to keep her glazed eyes focused on him. "Take him to his room."

“Fine,” Aruto put down his drink with an melodramatic sigh. 

Naki finished the dregs of their drink before letting Aruto help them to their feet. Their head spun and they had to cling to Aruto to stay upright.

Fuwa felt like his body was on fire from the sudden closeness mingled with the effects of the drink, but Naki barely responded. They wrapped an arm around Aruto’s waist as he helped them back to the corridor.

“Your room is nearby.” Aruto was so warm and nice. The drink had hit both Naki and Fuwa like a truck and neither of them could do much other than let themselves be dragged down the hall.

"Here we are," Aruto said, opening up a door that looked suspiciously like it belonged in a hotel. Despite the clunky locking mechanism, it opened without a key card. "The library is five doors down when you're done sleeping this off." 

Naki sagged in the doorway, turning back to Aruto. “Feel free to stop by any time,” they slurred, leaning on the doorframe in a way that was probably intended to look cool. 

“Anytime?”

Fuwa's vision was so blurred that he couldn’t even tell what expression Aruto was making in response.

_Are you flirting with him? Stop that._

“Day or night,” Naki said, attempting a smile, “But night's got a nice ring to it, don't you think?”

Fuwa desperately wanted out. He wanted nothing more than to swing the door shut in Aruto’s face after saying something like that.

And that’s exactly what his body did. The drink had apparently weakened Naki’s control because Fuwa was able to grab the door and slam it shut in Aruto’s face.

_What the fuck was that?_ He thought as he slumped against the closed door.

_You thought he was cute._ Naki shrugged Fuwa’s shoulders. _Is that not you wanted?_

_No!_ Fuwa’s eyes closed and he leaned his head back. _I... let’s just go to sleep. Talk about it in the morning._

_Fine by me._

They stumbled forward, neither entirely sure who was piloting the body and neither bothering to consider turning on a light. Luckily, the bed was nearby and it was all too easy to fall down onto and slip into a deep sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Fuwa woke up feeling refreshed. Which was odd.

Ever since going on the run, he’d almost always woken more tired and anxious than when he went to sleep.

Not to mention after that drink, he’d expected to have a hangover. But no. He felt good. His leg seemed to have completely healed and his mind was calm.

He could have jumped out of bed, but Naki didn’t seem to share his enthusiasm. 

"Five more minutes." 

Naki was back in complete control of Fuwa's body and they weren't moving. They curled up on the bed, snuggling into the pillow. 

Fuwa let them stay there. He wanted to get up and explore, but there was no rush. He wasn't being chased anymore, he could take his time and figure out what was happening at his own leisure. 

If anything, letting Naki sleep for a bit gave him time to process everything that had happened. Everything had changed so fast, there had been so much to take in. 

But there was one thing in particular that was bothering him. A little thing nagging in his mind. 

_ Naki. Naki, are you awake yet?  _

Fuwa body shifted and Naki opened their eyes with a loud groan. 

_ What?  _

_ Aruto was wrong about the creature.  _

_ What?  _

_ He said there was no proof that it had motivations other than feeding, but that's not true. It spoke to us. It said we were friends.  _

Naki sat up sharply.  _ You're right.  _

Fuwa's heart was pounding. He wasn't sure if it was his own nerves or Naki's. They climbed to their feet making a break for the door. 

_ We need to talk to him, now.  _ Naki walked out into the hallways, looking around.  _ He said five doors down. But did he say which way?  _

_ No, he didn’t get a chance because you were too busy flirting. _

Naki chose left. Their footsteps echoed impossibly loud in the winding hallways as they counted the doors. 

_ Look, your thoughts wouldn’t shut up about how cute he was and how much you liked touching him. _ Naki said as they passed the second door.  _ I was just trying to give you a hand. You seem like you could use some stress relief. _

_How is watching_ **_you_** _flirt in_ **_my_** _body going to make me_ **_less_** _stressed?_

Naki stopped, folding their arms over their chest. There were two doors exactly opposite each other. One was a old wooden door, the other sleek and metal. 

_ Okay. The library's got to be the wood one, right?  _

_ That doesn’t answer my question! _

The metal door swung open and a familiar voice called out. “Oh good, you found it. I was worried I hadn't given you clear enough directions.”

Naki turned to see Aruto peeking out from behind the surprisingly thick metal door. His hair was sticking up in every direction and he was wearing the same clothes from last night.

“Yes,” Naki lied, “How long was I asleep?”

Aruto laughed. “Time doesn’t exactly... work here,” he said before gesturing to the room behind him, “I used to measure days by when I slept but I stopped doing that a long time ago. Did you want to see the library?”

Naki stepped into the room nervously. It didn’t feel like any library Fuwa was used to. It was too clean and modern. There were bookshelves, but they were scattered haphazardly on one side of the room like an afterthought. The main attraction was the large number of screens dotting the walls. He wanted to examine the words and images scrolling over them, but Naki was far more interested in the books.

Aruto closed the door behind them just as a scratching noise came from behind one of the bookshelves. Naki reeled back something the size of a large dog came scuttling towards them.

“What is that?”

“Hey hey, don’t scare her,” Aruto knelt by the... Fuwa didn’t know what it was. It looked like a machine but moved like some horrid combination or crab and spider. Worst of all was the not quite human face sticking out from it’s too long neck.

“She’s one of the librarians,” Aruto said, petting the creature’s sharp back. “She’ll help you find anything you need.”

“What...” Naki’s hand was on the door, ready to bolt, “What is she?”

“A robot,” Aruto was staring at them like they were the crazy one. “I made her myself. I made all the librarians, to help with all the research.”

“Oh,” Naki relaxed, a little. They edged toward the robot extending their hand cautiously. “Do you... do you have any books on the creature we caught?”

The robot’s head turned and a harsh inhuman sound left its “mouth.” Naki turned and ran.

“Actually, I think I’ll come back later.”

They barreled towards the door only to collide with another person before they could make it out.

“Ah, I see you’re finally awake.” Yaiba grabbed Naki, preventing them from escaping, “I just finished up with my experiments and was coming to see if Aruto had made any progress with his side.”

“None,” Aruto pouted, still petting the "librarian." “I spent all night trying to get anything out of it. I’m pretty sure it doesn’t have human intelligence. Turns out it's just an animal after all.”

“You’re saying it can’t talk?” Naki asked slowly.

“I know! It looks so close to human, I was really hoping to be able to get some answers.”

Naki nodded, biting Fuwa’s lip. “Yeah, that sure is weird.”

_ Should we tell them? _ Fuwa said.

_ What if we imagined it? _

_ We both imagined the same voice? _

_ We were sharing a brain, of course we’d imagine the same thing. _

Yaiba sighed. “Any luck with the rest of your research?”

“It’s trying to escape,” Aruto pulled out his phone. He opened some pictures, showing them to Yaiba. It keeps trying to destroy the binding circle. Clearly it thinks destroying that will allow it to escape. Maybe we can test if that’s true, but not until we learn to follow it to its destination like...” Aruto turned to Fuwa. “Well, like you did. How did you do that?”

Fuwa mouth hung open as Naki’s thoughts raced.

“I don’t really understand how,” Naki said. They weren’t lying, Fuwa could tell that much, but they were holding back. 

“Something else to study,” Aruto threw an arm around Fuwa’s shoulder, “What was it you were saying last night about-“

“I want to see the creature,” Naki blurted out. “I want, I want proof that it’s just a monster.”

“Understandable,” Yaiba turned to Aruto, “You can handle that, Hiden.”

“ _ Hiden _ ?”

Naki tensed like a coiled spring, eyes narrowing as they glared at Aruto.

“Uh... yeah.” Aruto looked embarrassed. “You caught me. I’m  _ that _ Hiden. Well, the grandson of that Hiden, but... yeah.”

Fuwa knew Hiden, of course he did. How could anyone forget the mysterious disappearance of the heir to the largest tech empire in the country? Hiden was a legend, but that didn’t explain the waves of anger practically radiating off Naki.

“My... I used to work there,” Naki said.

_ What? No I didn’t. _

“Oh!” Aruto perked up. “That explains it. I mean, I’m sorry. Sorry for what my grandfather did, but you must be one of the ones we experimented on. That explains everything.”

_ Naki, I didn’t work for Hiden. _

_ What do you mean? You said you worked for a big tech company doing sketchy research into the occult. _

_ Not Hiden. _

“What project were you involved with?” Aruto asked.   


_ Thouser. I was involved with Project Thouser. _

“Zea,” Naki said without missing a beat.

There was a stiff moment of silence.

“Everybody involved with that project is dead,” Yaiba said coldly.

“So is everyone involved with Thouser,” Naki shot back, “but here we are.”

“Everyone?” Yaiba’s face fell. Her entire demeanor changed as tears welled in her eyes. “I thought... I thought maybe this whole endeavor would... you’re telling me I couldn’t save _any_ of them?”

“That’s what they say.” Naki was quiet. They knew they’d made a misstep but didn’t quite know what to do now. “But we’re both here. So clearly what they say isn’t always true.”

Yaiba wiped her eyes and sniffled. “You’re right. You have to be. I can’t have failed.”

“You didn’t fail,” Aruto cut in. He wrapped Yaiba in a tight hug, that she didn't return. “We won. We got the monster.”

“We got  _ this _ monster,” Yaiba’s face hardened again. “Now we just need to focus on getting the rest.” She turned to Fuwa with a cold smile as she pushed Aruto away. “Sorry, I need some time to think. Hiden, go take him to see the creature.”

Sighed and grabbed Fuwa’s arm, pulling him out of the room.

Once they were out of earshot, Aruto leaned in and whispered, “So, you worked for Hiden. Did you know my father?”

“Your father was dead long before I joined.”

Fuwa wasn’t sure if Naki was telling the truth or just going off the facts familiar to anyone who’d followed the Hiden incident. They were shutting him out and he couldn't tell what they were thinking. Only that any trust in Aruto had been burned the moment they'd heard his last name.   


Aruto looked confused. "What... oh, you mean my human father. Yes, of course. He died when I was little. But did you know my father?"

"I don't..."

"That's fine." Aruto smiled, but he looked deflated. "Most people didn't. I was just curious." He stopped outside a door so dark it nearly blended into the surrounding wall. "This is it," he said pulling out a key that was just as black as the door. 

Once unlocked, the door opened with a loud creak and Naki stepped inside. Inside the room was dimly lit and cold. The floor was rough concrete and the walls covered with shelves full of strange tools. 

And in the center the creature that had followed Fuwa lay curled up on the floor in the middle of a blood red circle. 

"It can't hurt you," Aruto hovered behind Fuwa. "Just don't cross the line and you'll be perfectly safe." 

Naki stepped forward and the creatures head rose. 

"Why?" The same voice from the previous night left its mouth as it stared up at them.   


The creature looked human now. Looked painfully human as his looked up at Fuwa with tear-filled eyes. He looked human and he looked young. Twenty at the most. 

"This is..." Naki couldn't quite meet the creature's gaze. "Is this really..."

"Its' hiding most of it's true form," Aruto said, "I think it's a trick. A chameleon disguise that lowers your guard."

"I just wanted to be your friend," the creature cried out, reaching out to Fuwa. As its' hand crossed the line drawn in the floor, light filled the room and Fuwa could see the creatures form warp into a incoherent mass of tentacles. It scrambled back, cradling its arm as the light faded and it returned a mostly human shape. 

Naki moved forward as if the comfort the beast, but Aruto grabbed their arm. "Don't fall for it. Get too close and it'll tear you to pieces."

"You don't know that," Naki said. 

"Yes. Yes, I do. I've seen it." Aruto tugged firmly on their arm, pulling them away from the circle. 

"What do you mean?" Naki couldn't tear their eyes away from the creature. 

It was climbing to its feet slowly, still cradling its now smoking arm. Fuwa had never gotten a good view of it before, far more interested in survival than examining his stalker. It towered above them, at least eight feet tall. It's clothes were strange, not from any time period Fuwa could recognize. They looked patched together with belts and straps and odd bits of cloth hanging out in odd places. 

The strangest part was the slashes across the creatures chest. There were slashes through its shirt and through those holes there were visible wounds. They weren't bleeding, if anything they looked old and festering, but Fuwa couldn't remember seeing them the previous night. But most of those memories were a blur of fear and pain. 

"I used to think like you," Aruto's hand on Fuwa's shoulder brought him back to the present. "I was convinced that these creatures could be our friends. That they could help humanity reach new heights. I thought if I could just contain one long enough to talk to it, that I could reason with it. I could ask it what it wanted."

"I want to go home," the creature begged, but Aruto didn't respond. He acted like he hadn't even heard. 

"Before I could ask, the creature ate the love of my life," he said, his grip on Fuwa's arm tightening to a painful level, "It ate her right in front of me and it would have eaten me too. I just barely managed to open a doorway to this place and escape." 

_ Why can you understand the creature? _ Fuwa asked. 

_What do you mean why can_ **_I_** _understand it?_ Naki snapped back harshly, _Why can_ **_you_** _understand it?_

_ It never spoke to me before now.  _

_ That's because you always ran. You don't know if he could talk the whole time.  _

"Please," the creature begged, "please, get me out of here. I learned my lesson. I won't play with humans anymore if you just let me go home." 

"It's a lot to take in," Aruto said, wrapping a friendly arm around Fuwa's shoulder, "Look, you've only been here a day. Take some time to process everything. We've got plenty of it." 

"Don't worry," Naki said looking at the creature, before turning to Aruto, "Some time would be nice. I think I'll try the library again." 


	4. Chapter 4

The beast was caged. A victory. A massive victory, but Yua couldn’t celebrate it.

Her success was matched with a loss, as always. What had been the purpose of catching the monster if she couldn’t save anyone?

She flipped through the notes she’d taken from the beast, but her eyes slid over the words without processing them.

How could she focus on anything after what Fuwa had said? All dead. All gone. None saved, despite her sacrificing everything.

No. She couldn’t despair. She couldn’t give up. There was still Aruto to save, and now Fuwa. She wasn’t done fighting yet.

She gave up on trying to read, instead pulling up the audio recording she’d taken from the beast. She skipped the ones where it had just been screaming, those were too distorted. She was more interested in the sounds it had made when it was calm.

The sounds from when she’d been able to sit across from it and just talk.

Barely any time had passed since she’d made the recording but it felt like years. It was funny how much things could change in so little time. She’d been so much calmer during the recording. So much more hopeful. Just asking the creature questions, in some vain hope it would have answers. 

“What do you want?”

“Why are you doing this?”

“Why can’t you just leave us alone?”

Her own voice sounded odd and distorted in the recording. Especially juxtaposed next to the creature’s “answers.” For every question she asked it made sounds, almost as if it was trying to have a conversation. 

That was nonsense of course. The sounds were still incoherent screams. But there was something familiar about it.

The creature’s voice was so grating, like nails on her skull. She was surprised it didn’t blow her headphone speakers.

But it was fascinating. Even as her head throbbed from the screeching, she couldn’t stop listening.

It was the horrid screeching of an animal, but there was a pattern to it. It could almost be mistaken for a song.

That was impossible. It couldn’t speak. Not any language they could understand.

But what if it could. What if she could break the code? Maybe she could save the day with communication instead of violence.

She started messing with the recording. Stripping away the worst of the static and amplifying the parts that most resembled human speech.

As she worked, pain stabbed at her skull. The creature’s voice hurt to listen to. The more she worked, the more it grated on her.

What was she doing? Trying to understand the monster? Trying to sympathize with it? What was she expecting to find?

She closed the recording, pressing her palms to her eyes in some attempt to staunch her headache. She couldn’t fall apart. Not now, not when she was so close.

Just a couple more sacrifices and she’d be done.

Sacrifice was necessary to save the world. Sacrifice and bargaining and concessions. That's what Amatsu Gai had told her. That's what he'd told her again and again all those years when she worked under him. 

She was brilliant, anyone could see that, but without the right resources, she wouldn't get far. She needed Zaia. Just a couple more months, just a few more projects, just another promotion and she'd be able to make her own rules. She'd be able to lead her own projects. 

She had to hold her nose and do what Amatsu wanted because one day her programs would save the world. 

So she held her nose when he asked her to resurrect the failed Zea project. She thought it was a bad idea to mess with things like that. Mixing technology and the occult had been the thing that caused the Hiden corporation to collapse. (Not that the public knew that. Korenosuke Hiden had spent the last of his money of and life ensuring no one talked.) As far as Yua was concerned, Zea had been a warning, but Amatsu took it as a challenge.

She hated it, but she couldn’t just quit. She couldn’t throw away her shot like that.

She'd never wanted to tear the veil between worlds. It was there for a reason, as far as she was concerned. But Amatsu had convinced her it was important. He'd convinced her that on the other side of the veil were the answers humanity needed to advance. 

He told her that if she went along with him she would be a legend. If she was the team lead on harnessing the power of the void, anything she wanted would be hers.

It was all a lie. 

She knew that. She'd known that for years. Ever since the first participant of Project Thouser had gone berserk, smashing a million yen's worth of equipment, she'd known it was a lie. 

But she'd pushed through. So what if Amatsu lied to her? She was smarter than him. She would take him down from the inside. 

But taking down the president of Zaia had required even more sacrifices. It took life after life as she tried to balance Amatsu's demands with her attempts to take him down.

It would be worth it in the end. That what she'd told herself. One didn't topple the largest tech company in Japan without some fallout. 

Sacrifice after sacrifice had to be made. The number of casualties climbed but they were acceptable. She would save far more lives than she lost.

And then Amatsu had abandoned her. 

He'd left her out in the cold, shutting her out of the very systems she'd built. He took credit for her work and blackballed her from the industry.

She’d gotten her revenge for that.

But then she’d turned to fixing her mistakes. She found others that could help her research a solution. She wasn't selfish. She’d done all of this because she wanted to do good.

The moment they'd discovered a way to capture the monster she’d summoned, she’d been the first to volunteer. It didn’t bother her that there was no coming back from this place. It was a death sentence without the comfort of death and she’d accepted it willingly. 

Maybe she couldn't save the world like she wanted to. But she still trusted her numbers and her algorithms. She could at least fix her mistakes. 

Aruto had been the one to find this place between worlds. His attempt to escape the monster had trapped him in this strange never-ending hallway. He’d been the one to reach out and bring her and the rest of the team in.

Unlike the others, madness had only made Aruto stronger. Unconstrained by reality, he thrived and built terrifying, powerful machines. Sure he only used them to do research, of all things, but they could be easily repurposed.

There was the business of his odd little obsession with raising the dead. But it didn’t really hurt anything. It would never work. The dead stayed dead and all it did was waste time.

And they had time to waste.

She didn’t know if she’d been away from her world for days, months or years. She’d long since stopped caring. It didn’t matter how long it took, what mattered was that they succeeded.

Well, she’d thought she’d stopped caring. She’d convinced herself that it didn’t matter until a new face showed up at their doorsteps.

They’d succeeded, technically. The monster was caged. But what had she accomplished? Everyone she’d wanted to save was dead anyway.

She’d failed. She’d given her life to a man that had used her to kill and for what? She couldn’t save the world, she couldn’t even save her own subordinates.

No.

She needed to stop that. Despair gave way to madness. She’d seen it in everyone that had come to their little pocket dimension. She wasn’t going to go mad like them. She was stronger than that.

Don’t focus on the immutable past. Focus on changing the future. Focus on taking the fight to them. It wasn’t enough to cage the beast. There were others like it, and they needed to be dealt with too.

She’d take them down like she’d taken down Amatsu. Her one little victory that she still clung to was when she’d watched the creature tear him limb from limb.

It would have been perfect if not for the fact that after eating Amtasu, the beast had turned its attention on her. She’d escaped, but not unscathed. Even in this place where cuts and broken bones healed in a matter of hours, the scars on her face refused to fade.

Her entire ear was gone and the area around was torn and warped.

It was a reminder. A reminder for her to not get so consumed by revenge that she mistook the enemy of her enemy for a friend.

Yua pulled herself out of her memories and turned her attention back to the recording.

Perhaps she could use the recording as a lure. Broadcast the screams into the void and watch the creatures come to them. Use it to trap them like they’d trapped the first one. 

She started messing with the recording again. Changing the speed, the pitch, playing it backwards. There was just something about it that made her want to examine it further.

She just needed to know what it was saying. So she would know which parts were best to broadcast, obviously. No other reason.

And then, a moment of clarity. The screams faded away and she could hear clear words playing through her headphones.

She froze as she listened to the creature’s voice playing on loop. That wasn’t possible. It was a trick. It had to be a trick. The alternative was... 

Rage flooded Yua’s system as she yanked her headphones out if the computer. She was on her feet, headed to the door as the sound started playing out of the computers speakers, far too loud.

She covered her ears, but it didn’t do much to cover up what the beast was saying.

“What do you want?”

“Why are you doing this?”

“Why can’t you just leave us alone?”


	5. Chapter 5

_Naki... Naki. Naki! Talk to me._

Naki stood in front of the metal door to the library. Their hand gripped the door handle painfully hard as they steadied themselves.

They’d completely shut Fuwa out. He could sense the dark swirling mess of emotion going through Naki’s head, but he couldn’t piece together what exactly they were thinking. He wasn’t sure if Naki knew what they were thinking.

“It’s okay,” they muttered to themselves, “They’re just robots. Just creepy, creepy robots. They’re not going to hurt you.”

_Naki! You can’t ignore me forever!_

Naki opened the door and entered the library. It was dark, but as they stepped inside, the lights clicked on.

They took a slow step towards the shelves, eyes darting towards all the shadows in anticipation of the librarian.

_Naki! Listen to me!_

Fuwa’s body stumbled backwards as Fuwa was able to wrestle control back. It was just for a moment. Naki steeled themselves and took back control before he was able to do anything else.

_Naki! Stop! Just calm down and we can talk about this._

_I don’t want to talk. I want answers._ Naki said as the approached the bookcase.

Before they could get much closer a figure danced out from behind the bookcase. He was small and lithe, dressed all in black and it wasn’t until he came closer that it became obvious that he wasn’t human.

His eyes were too big and bright red, and he flickered in and out of reality just like the other creature had. He laughed as he danced up to them. “We’ve been looking for you,” he said, leaning in far too close for comfort. The closer they looked, the less human he seemed. His face morphed and shifted and his body seemed like it was made more of black smoke than solid matter.

“What do you want?” Naki took a step back and the man followed.

“The same thing you do, Naki,” he said, smiling widely, “We just want our brother back.”

“How did you-“

“We can take you to him,” the man interrupted, “Bring us our brother and we’ll get you to yours.”

“Your brother killed me.” Naki’s hand shook. Fuwa could feel their composure cracking. He could almost see the memories flashing before their eyes. Memories of blood and pain and despair and helplessness.

“Clearly he didn’t,” the man’s head tilted at an unnatural angle, “The dead don’t speak.”

“He ripped me to shreds.” Naki launched forward, grabbed the man by the shirt. “He tore me limb from limb and ate those limbs in front of my brothers.”

“But you survived.” The man laughed as Naki seethed.

“Very unusual for a human, so I hear,” said a voice from behind them. Another man, nearly identical to first was standing behind them. “Just like your brother.”

Naki let go of the first man, stumbling away from the two of them. They didn’t make it far before their back hit a third identical man. 

“Do you mean Raiden? Is Raiden alive? Is he okay?”

“He just as alive as you,” one behind Naki said.

“But I’m not alive.”

“If you want to see your brother again,” the first one said. Or was it the second one? Did that even matter? “Destroy the circle and destroy the chains. He’ll do the rest.”

“Why should I listen to you?” Naki looked between the three identical faces. Wait, no. Four identical faces. When had the fourth appeared? “How do I know your brother won’t kill my host like he killed me?”

“Jin’s already decided your host is worth playing with.” One of them was talking but no matter which one Naki looked at, their mouth wasn’t moving. “And he’ll be grateful to the one that frees him.”

“You should listen to us,” they all said in unison, “If you don’t, we’ll have to call in our father.”

As quickly as they’d appeared, the men vanished.

Naki breathed heavily in the silence they’d left behind. Tears flowed down Fuwa’s face as Naki bit back a torrent of emotions. 

_Are you okay?_

“What kind of question is that?” Naki wiped the tears from Fuwa’s face. “I have to choose who to trust: the monster that ate me or the human that fed me to it.”

_Yaiba?_

_Hiden._

_Did you really work for Hiden?_

_No._ Naki sighed deeply. _My brother did. My older brother, Raiden. He was going to be an astronaut, but he had to take care of me and Subaru. I was still in college and Subaru was just starting high school. He ended up dropping out and Hiden snatched him up, said he’d pay tuition for all three of us if Raiden worked there a full year._

_Aruto said something about experiments. Was that what happened to him?_

_I don’t know._ More tears were pouring down Fuwa’s face. His chest hurt as Naki struggled to keep their composure. _All I know was he got paranoid. He was spending more and more time working. The little time we had with him he was tense and secretive. When Subaru said he saw a tall man standing outside our house one night, Raiden freaked out. He gave me a necklace the next day. Told me it would keep me safe, but only if I kept it on at all times. If anyone tried to take me away, I just had to hold the necklace and say some chant._ Naki reached for Fuwa’s neck, but there was no necklace there. _I didn’t take it off. I never took it off. But it didn’t save me. When the tall man... when Jin came again, he killed me before I knew what was happening. I got pulled out of my body and I had to sit and watch helplessly as he ate me and took Raiden away. He left Subaru alive, but he was just a kid. Our parents are dead, he didn’t have anyone._

_It wasn’t your fault._

_Of course it’s not my fault. It’s Hiden’s fault._ Naki glared up at the screens above them. The Hiden logo bounced around one of them, a screensaver old fashioned screensaver that looked to be a decade old. _It’s still my responsibility to fix it. I held onto the hope that I could rescue Raiden for years. I know it’s pointless. Subaru is an adult now, he doesn’t need us anymore. But I was still around as a ghost and I needed some purpose. My goal was to find Raiden and if I couldn’t find him, I’d avenge him._

_What if vengeance isn’t the answer either?_

There was rage boiling in Naki’s mind. It was an emotion Fuwa was more than familiar with. Rage and spite kept him alive for years. Kept him going when it was freezing and he couldn’t afford a hotel room. Kept him moving when his cars broke down. Kept him from giving in to his inescapable situation.

He was getting tired of always being angry.

_You want me to forgive Hiden for tearing me and my family apart?_

_Aruto didn’t do any of that, his grandfather did. Maybe he’s different._

_Why are you defending him?_

_I’ve been following his story for years._

_His story?_

_His disappearance._ Fuwa had spent so much time convincing himself the research was for his job. He was a “ghost hunter” after all. It was a pretty big part of the job description that he should know all the famous supernatural-adjacent stories. But one case in specific had captured his interest. _You don’t know about the mysterious disappearance of the heir to the largest tech company in Japan?_

_I must have died before that._ Naki said. _It was hard to follow any news after I died. I was barely aware of time and I couldn’t even change the channel on televisions._

_Short version: the reclusive heir to the Hiden corporation went missing one day. Soon after his girlfriend was found torn to pieces inside a satanic summoning circle. He was never found. For years people debated whether he was the one that killed her or if he was a victim too._

_What did you think?_

_When it first happened, I thought he was the killer for sure. But after Zaia... I mean, his story had some similarities to mine. I always wondered if he was like me, hunted and alone. When I was on the road, I would check up on his case every couple months. I was looking for some hope that someone like me survived._

_Looks like he did survive._ Naki didn’t share Fuwa’s sympathy. Their thoughts were still cold and angry. 

_Can’t we give him a chance?_ Fuwa asked.

_What about giving Jin a chance?_

_The monster that ate you? The monster that chased me relentlessly for years? You’re going to give it a chance and not Aruto?_

_He looked so scared._

_He_ **_ate_ ** _you._

_Look, all I want is to see my family again. What do you want?_

The question left Fuwa at a loss. He’d spent years just surviving. Staying ahead of the beast had been his one and only goal. There’d been no time to think about what he wanted to do once it was all over.

_It doesn’t matter,_ he said, _Jin’s locked up. If we want to talk to him, we need to get that key from Aruto. We might as well... you know... talk to him about it._

Fuwa tried his hardest to hide his real intention, but it wasn’t exactly easy when sharing a mind.

_I cannot believe you’re_ **_more_ ** _interested in him now that you know who he really is._

_It’s not like that._ It was like that. Kind of. But it was more complicated than that. Fuwa hasn’t never been good at words or emotions, and being alone for so long had only made that worse.

_Sure._ Naki rolled their eyes.

_Didn’t you come here to research something?_

Naki smiled. Barely, but Fuwa could feel the corner of his mouth rising. _Yes, I did. I want all of the information I can’t find on our situation._

The sound of metal scraping over the floor made Naki tense as a creature peeked out from behind a bookcase.

It was a different librarian from the last visit. This one was almost as tall as Fuwa, but stick thin. There was no skin covering its innards, all the gears and wires were clearly visible as it walked towards them.

Naki took a couple steps back. “Hey... um, I want, I... I want help, um...”

_Want me to do it?_

_No! I’ve got it! I’m good!_

The robot walked forward, each step causing it to sway wildly. It was holding a book.

Naki inched towards it, eyes darting every as they snatched the book out of the creature’s hand.

The moment the book was securely in their grasp, they pulled away. The robot didn’t seem to mind. It whirred happily before slipping back behind the shelves.

The book was heavy and oddly new. The binding was stiff and creaked as Naki forced the book open.

_This is useless._ Naki said as they flipped open to the table of contents. _It’s just an encyclopedia, but I don’t recognize any of these terms. I don’t even know where to start._

_Useless to you._ Fuwa still couldn’t control his eyes, but he recognized a fair amount of the terms on the page. _This was my job for years._

_I’m the only ghost you’ve ever met. You weren’t very good at your job._

_Hey! I at least did the research. Let me take control, I know exactly what to look for... and I’m not terrified of the librarians._

_I’m not terrified, I just think they’re gross._ Naki said as they relinquished control over Fuwa’s body.

Fuwa took a moment to get readjusted to having control. He rolled his shoulders and cracked his knuckles before diving into the book.


	6. Chapter 6

“Let’s try something new,” Aruto said as he dragged the heavy chains towards the summoning circle.

“Do you want out of there?” Aruto asked the hulking monster.

The noise it made in response was horrifying. It tore at Aruto’s ears and sent shivers through his body.

“Of course you do,” he crooned as he inched closer to the circle. He was used to talking to things that didn’t talk back.

Whenever he was working on one of the his creations, he’d always talk to them the whole time. Even if they couldn’t understand him, he believed it was good for them. He wanted them to understand that they were being made by a loving creator.

Not that he had any love for this beast. No, all he had for this monster was hate. The beast had killed Izu, he could never forgive it for that.

But the instinct to talk remained.

“Yeah, come here,” Aruto smiled at the monster as he approached him nervously, “I’m not gonna hurt you this time.”

He held out his hand and the beast extended its hand as well.

This was the tricky part. The moment he crossed the line, there was a risk that the monster could attack him. Make it quick and look confident the whole time. That’s what he needed to do.

Aruto slipped the first shackle around the monster’s wrist. The lock clicked into place and he pulled his hands away.

“That’s very good,” Aruto smiled brightly up at the monster. If it had been safe, he would have ruffled the creature’s fluffy hair. It really had picked such a sweet face to try to trick him with.

“Other one now,” he said, shoving those thoughts away. It was a monster, nothing more.

The beast extended it’s free hand and Aruto fastened the other shackle. All that was left now was to test if the symbols etched into the metal did their job.

Aruto inched into the circle, hand moving up from the creature’s wrist to its forearm, to its elbow. “Hey there,” he whispered, “I’m gonna take care of you. What’s your name?”

The creature hissed at the touch but didn’t fight back. As Aruto’s hand slid up the creature’s bicep, it leaned in, making a soft noise.

Jin.

The name came to Aruto’s mind instantly. The moment he thought it, he realized there was no other name that would feel right. “Is Jin okay?” he asked.

The creature nodded, mouth breaking into a wide smile. It was then that Aruto came to his senses. Jin’s mouth was full of teeth. Far too many teeth. They were long and sharp and crammed together unevenly.

Aruto leapt back to the safety of outside the circle. His heart raced as memories flashed through his head.

He remembered with perfect clarity the way the monster looked when its teeth sunk into Izu’s arm. He’d been frozen to the spot, unable to look away as it tore her to shreds.

He had no interest in being anywhere near Jin’s mouth. That was a death sentence.

But he couldn’t stop looking at them, the teeth that had torn his love apart. He didn’t know what he’d expected to feel when faced with her killer, but it wasn’t this.

He was curious about Jin, pulled towards him in a way he could describe.

Maybe it was there was something of Izu left in the beast.

What if she was still in there? What if he could get her out?

He could bring her back, just like he’d brought his father back. But it would be better this time.

Back then all he’d had was footage of his father. His grandfather hadn’t known what to do with a grieving child so he’d given Aruto thousands of hours of logs and interviews his father had made over the years.

Aruto had taken those logs and rebuilt his father from scratch. He laboriously took every piece of data he was given and made an AI that was a perfect image of him. More perfect than the original. This version laughed at his jokes and told Aruto he loved him.

His new father kept working for Hiden. He was installed as the help desk AI. Aruto’s grandfather had loved that. He gave Aruto anything he asked for as long as he kept coding.

His grandfather hadn’t liked the body Aruto had made for his dad nearly as much. Aruto had been told it was unnatural and to keep it out of sight. It was a pity, he loved building more than coding, but people never understood his constructs.

Until Izu. She’d understood. She helped him create even more. She even helped him let go of his father. Once they started experimenting with the arcane, she convinced him to cannibalize the program. It was more useful as a tool to communicate with creatures on the other side of the veil.

After all, he wouldn’t need the father made of code if he could bring his original father back to life. All he needed to do was find his father’s spirit and put in the body he’d already made.

Sure, the experiments so far had been... not optimal. He’d lost Izu to them already.

But her could bring her back too.

All he needed was some part of her. He needed enough of her that he could find her spirit and bring her back to him.

That’s what Jin could provide. There had to be some part of Izu in him, Aruto just had to find it.

He didn’t remember picking up the knife, but it was in his hand. Jin cowered as Aruto stepped into the circle.

The marks from the previous experiment still covered his arms and chest. The whip had slashed through the creature’s skin easily, but there hadn’t been any blood.

Aruto wondered how deep he’d need to go before there was blood. Perhaps there was none. Aruto would just need to experiment more. Go deeper and deeper until he found what he was looking for.

The creature swung a clawed hand at him, but before it could connect, the shackle glowed bright and he screamed. Jin’s arm dropped helplessly as Aruto ran his hand over some of the marks. The skin of the creature was warm and slippery under his palms.

It shifted oddly, like it was barely real. Maybe the body was an illusion. Would a fake body mean Jin didn’t really feel pain?

Jin shuddered as Aruto’s teased his fingers into the scars in his chest. He whimpered, an oddly human sound. He didn’t seemed pained by the intrusion. If anything, Jin seemed just as curious as he was. 

That made rage flare in Aruto’s chest. The creature was supposed to be in pain. It was supposed to be suffering for what it had done.

It screamed as he drove his knife into its flesh. The knife sunk in with little resistance. There was no blood, no tearing, no satisfaction in the action.

The sigil’s on the blade glowed bright when he pulled it out. It was perfectly clean.

“Can you feel it?” Aruto hissed as he stabbed it in again. “Does it hurt you like you hurt me?”

Jin screamed and writhed. He clawed at Aruto only for the protection spell to burn him again.

Aruto dragged the knife through the creature’s skin only finding himself more and more frustrated. He had no idea what he was even doing at this point it was just pure rage and desperation.

He threw the knife to the side and grabbed at the tattered remains of Jin’s clothing. He pulled the beast’s head down, now face to face with the mouth that had taken Izu from him.

“Bring her back!” Aruto screamed. “Why did you take her?”

Jin didn’t look angry. He should be angry. He should be in pain. Instead, he looked confused. He made a sound. It was a horrible scream. It ripped at Aruto’s eardrums and made him feel dizzy. But it wasn’t an angry sound. It was soft compared to the normal screams.

The monster reminded Aruto of Izu. She was always inquisitive. She would walk right into dangerous situations without thought of consequence because she wanted to know. She wanted to examine the world around her.

Maybe there was some of her in the beast. Maybe violence wasn’t the way to extract it. Perhaps it was a gentle hand that was needed to get her back.

“Okay Jin,” Aruto pulled the monster closer, “Let’s try something new.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: The rating is changing as of this chapter. This is as explicit as the story will go.

“I think I’ve found it,” Fuwa said. He’d flipped through the pages of the book for what felt like hours. And he’d learned a lot, just not what he’d hoped for. “But something’s not adding up.”

_What?_

“So humans have a body and they have a spirit. Those are usually tied together pretty strongly. The body dies, so does the spirit. But there are spells that can separate them. Like, for example, a piece of jewelry can be enchanted so that it will keep its wearer alive if the body dies.”

_Sounds exactly like what my brother gave me._

“... for a couple months.”

_What?_

“It will keep your spirit around for a couple months.” He pointed to a passage in the book. “If a spirit cannot find a body to house it soon, it will start to degenerate.”

_You’re not the first person I possessed._ Fuwa’s hand ran through his hair as Naki took over for a moment. _But you were the first to live. I only possessed those on death’s doorstep and you were the first to survive._

“Good to know.”

_Would you rather I left you for dead?_

“I didn’t say that...”

...

It didn’t make sense. Yua paced up and down the corridors. It couldn’t be right.

The creature just wanted to be left alone. But the creature had been chasing them. But it had only been chasing them because she brought it here.

It couldn’t be her fault. It couldn’t be.

She’d only wanted to do good. She’d only wanted to help people. She couldn’t be responsible for this. She wasn’t responsible.

She was a good person. It was the beast that was try to trick her. It wanted her to doubt herself. Just like Amatsu had wanted her to doubt herself.

She wasn’t going to give in. She couldn’t give in. She had to save the others.

Even if it meant sacrificing herself. Especially if it meant sacrificing herself. What else could she do?  
What more did she even have to sacrifice? She’d given up so much in the hope that it would be worth it in the end. She’d given her time, her sweat, her blood, her tears, her mind, the right side of her face, her sanity. What else could she give?

What would even begin to fix the problems she caused?

She stopped and turned around. She’d made a wrong turn somewhere. She was deep in the hallways, farther than she’d ever gone before.

Where had she been going?

Her head throbbed. There was a buzzing in her ears. Both of her ears. She hadn’t heard anything out of her right side since being attacked by the beast, but now that ear was ringing.

She could almost hear something through the sound. Faint whispers telling her what she needed to do, but too faint to be understood.

She needed to get to the library. The librarians could help her.

...

_Okay, so it’s a lucky fluke I made it this far._ Naki said. _What does that tell us?_

“That’s not the only thing. Look at the next-“

The door to the library swung open and Fuwa shut his mouth. He didn’t want to get caught talking to himself.

“Need to save them. Need to help them. Need to fix it.”

Fuwa’s fear was unfounded. Yua was too busy talking to herself to notice any of his behavior.

“Fix it. Change it. Save it, no no no, save them. Need to save them from it.”

“Yua?” Naki took Fuwa’s body back as they approached the woman. “Are you okay?”

“How would you repent?” Yua turned to them, eyes wide and frantic. “How would you fix it?”

“Fix what?”

“The creature!”

_Naki, I think we should leave her alone._

“What about the creature?” Naki ignored Fuwa.

“What to do with it?”

“Free it?” Naki offered very quietly.

Yua didn’t hear them. She was moving towards the bookshelves. “Missing something. I have to be missing something,” she stumbled back, clutching her head, “What’s wrong with me?”

“Maybe you should go lie down.”

“No!” Yua stumbled back clutching her head. “Not until I find what I’m looking for. Where are the librarians? And why...” Her eyes narrowed and she rubbed her face. “Are there two of you?” 

“I can explain.” Naki reached out, but Yua flinched away.

“Never mind,” she snapped, backing towards the door, “Aruto will have a better answer.”

“Yua, wait!”

As Yua ran out the door, a sound from behind made Naki stop. Another librarian, this one covered in a patchwork of different materials, was looking over the book.

They turned the pages and pushed it over to Naki.

_I think they want to tell me something._ Fuwa tried to reach for the book.

_Or tell me something._ Naki stayed in control as they pulled the book towards them.

...

Aruto sighed. The creature was all around him. Above him, below him and inside of him.

He couldn’t tell where his limbs stopped and Jin’s started. He didn’t care. He was hot all over as he moved with the creature.

It had been so long since he’d been touched by another person. This was nothing like being with a human. It was more than physical. Aruto felt like Jin was touching every bit of his body and mind.

He never wanted to stop. The creature could kill him right now and he’d let it.

Jin let out a scream and Aruto covered his ears. It was a scream of pleasure, at least he thought it was.

But then Jin’s body writhed and twisted.

Aruto pulled himself out of his pleasure to see the shackles glowing white.

Did Jin want to touch him more? It would be a risk to free him. But it would be fine. Jin didn’t want to kill Aruto. He just wanted to touch. And Aruto couldn’t deny him that.

“I’ll take these off, but you’ve better behave.”

Jin nodded, smiling up at Aruto. The teeth were kinda charming, now that Aruto thought about it.

...

“Humans are called to the creatures from beyond the veil,” Naki read out loud, “They will seek to understand the incomprehensible and in trying will inevitably loose their grip on reality.”

_That’s what happened to Yua._ Fuwa said. There were other words on the page, but Naki wasn’t reading them. Fuwa tried to wrestle back control, but Naki wasn’t budging. _The same thing will happen to everyone if Jin stays here._

_This is it!_ Naki said grabbing the book and heading for the door. _This is how we convince them to let Jin go._

...

“Aruto, I need your help. I thinking I’m loosing my — what the fuck are you doing?”

Yua reeled at the sight in front of her. Aruto wrapped in the tentacles of that monster. Her first thought was that he was being eaten, but she’d seen a human get eaten before. She knew what it looked like. It wasn’t this.

“If I just go deeper I can find her,” Aruto head tilted back, eyes glassy as his hands splayed over the beast chef , “There has to be something if I just go deeper, ah...”

Yua was disgusted but her feet were moving closer. Maybe Aruto had a point. There was something there. Something she needed to understand.

Nothing else had worked, maybe she could find it here.

The creature looked up at her, eyes dark. She could have lost herself in them, if she was not already lost.

The voice in her right ear was so loud that she could barely think. It was telling her to come closer. It was saying if she gave herself one last time, she’d be forgiven.

Maybe this would be the sacrifice that worked.

...

_Naki, what are we doing?_

_Leaving._ Naki stormed down the hallways. _I’m getting out of here and I’m taking Jin with me._

_What about me?_

_There has to be a way to separate us._

_No._ Fuwa had read everything in about possession in that book. Once a spirit put themselves in a body, they stayed there until the body died. _It’s together or not at all._

He wasn’t sure how much Naki had understood of the book’s arcane language, seemingly very little. So he didn’t mention the other part. That one body couldn’t hold two souls for long. Eventually one would take over and the other would wither and die. 

_Fuwa..._ Naki paused, looking down at the body they were inhabiting. _I didn’t mean to... You deserve to live too._

_We don’t have time for that._ Fuwa forced his legs to move forward again. Naki had a goal, a family, he didn’t have anything. If only one of them could survive, it should be Naki. _If we stay, my and everyone else’s sanity will crumble. At least there’s a chance of survival outside this cage. For you and for the others._

They stopped outside of the black door leading to Jin. Fuwa grabbed at the handle, pulling as hard as they could. It was locked.

_I think it’s being held shut by magic._ Naki pulled harder. _It doesn’t feel like any lock I’m familiar with._

_I can open it._

_How?_

_You think I outran that monster for years by giving up just because things seem impossible?_

Fuwa tried against, pulling fiercely. He could feel Naki helping as best they could. His muscles strained, as he gritted his teeth and pulled as hard as he could. Veins popped in his temple and his hand screamed in protest, but he could feel the door give.

There was a loud creak and it flew open, slamming against the wall.

Naki shook out their hand. _You could have seriously hurt yourself doing that._

_That sort of strength has kept me alive._

Naki frowned as they entered the room.

The room smelled like sulfur and sweat. It was darker than Fuwa remembered. The candles around the circle had all gone out.

And in the middle of circle was a mass of flesh and tentacles.

Fuwa could barely make out Aruto and Yua before Naki covered their eyes in disgust. “What are you doing?”

The two didn’t respond. The room echoed with pants and moans and the unpleasant sound of... Fuwa didn’t want to think about what the sounds were.

_We are leaving!_ Naki stumbled forward, not looking directly at the threesome. Fuwa noted the smeared edges of the summoning circle as they got closer. Jin could easily escape a circle this messed up.

“It’s time to go home, Jin,” Naki said, reaching out to grab onto a tentacle. The tentacle shifted in their grasp, morphing into a hand.

The moment they took Jin’s hand, the world tore around them just like the first time they’d been taken.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is now a good time to mention this is based off “A Slender Man Musical” by Paul Shapera?


End file.
